Big Brother Ben (week 185)

My fish USC continues to flourish. Save a few near-miss disasters with Christopher trying to pull him off the nightstand, he has been eating and growing. We had to clean his water--a total remodel--for the first time last week, but it went smoothly. We also moved him to the mantle above the fire place where I keep all my most important items, including my drawings of baseball stadiums and crayons. Because of its height, this is a safe zone out of reach of little brothers.

This was a week of ups-and-downs. We did lots of very fun stuff including a day at the Santa Ana Zoo with monkeys, french fries, and good friends. But this was also a week where I lost my edge and had sugar all but eliminated from my diet. Dada and mama say that sugar can make little boys do bad things (e.g. throw tantrums, sand, and sticks). It can also make it hard to take naps and re-charge the battery. It is a vicious cycle.

We also played a lot of Cornhole this week--the game where you throw the bean bags into the hole. I am getting pretty good, making one out of every eight or so throws. The liability is the one out of eight throws that goes straight up in the air, backwards, or sideways and hits my baby brother in the head. We also played golf this weekend and I hit the ball really well on the range. We can't seem to find my putter, but I hit my irons straight and high. Dada and I play a lot of games which he says helps my dexterity.

On Saturday, mama went to the USC game with our friends so Dada, Christopher and I went up to Bobby's pool to watch the game and swim. I am still very nervous about the deep pool, but have been practicing putting my head under the water at home in the bathtub. This has helped, but there is nothing like the deep pool. Christopher is a crazy water bug and jumps right in. He doesn't seem to understand the risks involved with anything and faces everything with enthusiasm. Although Alabama crushed Penn State, USC did hold on for a win against Virginia which made everyone happy.

We rounded-out the week with church and mowing the yard. This was my first time pushing the big mower by myself on the "baby grass" out front by the sidewalk. I was very proud and did an excellent job on my little patch, but German--my invisible friend was mis-behaving all afternoon and got a time-out--and a tongue lashing from me for hitting me in the head. It is unclear if German is actually of German descent or if this is just his made-up name.

Project Little Brother (week 40)
Napping problems have been challenging the entire family this week and throwing everyone off. Christopher has become fiercely independent in the waking hours and does not like to be out of the loop on what everyone is doing (particularly when it involves the bathtub or the bathroom). This has also translated in some ways, to problems with taking his afternoon nap. He spent many an hour this weekend standing in his crib and crying for someone to come get him out from behind bars. He seems to be good at playing on his own, but takes every opportunity to follow me around and try to pull my drawing, crayons, or sippy-cup away. He is definitely becoming more of a project, but mama says this is primarily because he is getting two new upper-teeth and really uncomfortable right now.